Myth: BONES ARE DANGEROUS AND HAVE NO NUTRITIONAL VALUE.

Cooked bones are quite dangerous. Cooking
changes the structure of the bone, making it indigestible and easily
splinterable. Raw bones rarely splinter and are fully digestible, even
the collagen proteins that some people claim are "indigestible." It is
mostly the byproducts of the digested bone that form the bulk of a
raw-fed animal's feces. Dogs and cats do not need the fiber from grains
and vegetables, and feeding such foods only results in the big, soft,
malodorous stools everyone complains about.

Let me repeat this for good measure: raw bones are
completely digestible and are not dangerous for your animal. They are
no more dangerous than kibble, and the only reasons they are made out
to be dangerous are a) people misunderstand that raw bones are fully
digestible while cooked are not, b) people want to scare you into
thinking you are going to kill your dog if you give them bones, and c)
bone-induced problems are blown way out of proportion in an effort to
maintain the status quo of feeding kibble. What these people forget to
tell you about are the 60,000 dogs suffering from bloat each year—of
which nearly 20,000 die (Burrows, C.F. and L.A. Ignaszewski. 1990.
Canine gastric dilatation-volvulus. Journal of Small Animal Practice.
35:295-298. In Lonsdale, T. 2001. Raw Meaty Bones. pg 117)—or
the number of dogs dying from choking on kibble—which is a more common
occurrence than one hears of! They also forget to mention the numbers
of dogs that choked on or swallowed tennis balls, rocks, sticks, and a
variety of other objects. These incidences FAR outweigh the numbers of
dogs that have problems with raw bones. Just take a survey of
veterinarians in your area and see what the most common blockage or
choking culprits are in their specific practices. Do not forget to ask
how many dogs they have treated (successfully and unsuccessfully) for
bloat.

Yes, problems can occur with raw bones, just as
problems can occur with feeding the "safer" kibble (bloat, choking,
telescoping bowel, aspirated kibble leading to pneumonia, etc.). These
problems typically occur in dogs that gulp their food or are fed small
things like chicken wings and necks (the prime suspects of choking
incidences on raw). Other culprits are the large weight-bearing bones
of herbivores, things like knuckle bones, femurs, etc. These,
ironically, are the kinds of bones pet food manufacturers and some vets
recommend dogs receive regularly to help keep teeth clean! These bones
chip or break teeth and can have pieces of bone flake off.

If you are concerned about choking or about bones
getting stuck or about broken teeth, here are some things you can do:

Feed appropriately sized pieces. Do not be feeding a
dog the size of a Rottweiler a little chicken neck or wing! Feed that
dog a whole chicken. Bigger pieces force the dog to slow down and chew.
Also, stay away from cut bones; this includes things like cut up neck
bones (where they are cut into individual vertebrae), cut ox-tail
bones, and cut knuckle bones. The smaller size encourages inappropriate
gulping, not to mention the rather sharp edges left over from the saw
blade! Feed large MEATY bones that are in as whole condition as
possible.

Feed raw meaty bones frozen or partially
frozen. The dog will have to work at it much harder and will be forced
to slow down.

Do not feed the big weight-bearing bones of large
herbivores. These are well-known for chipping and cracking teeth! These
include the ever popular "recreational bones" like cow femurs and soup
bones. They are incredibly dense and hard, and can result in slab
fractures and cracked carnassial teeth. Avoid them if you can and stick
to MEATY bones that are edible.

Feed MEATY bones that are surrounded by and wrapped
up in plenty of meat. Do not feed bare bones or bones that have hardly
any meat on them. Too much bone can lead to constipation, so feeding
very bony parts like beef knuckle bones, chicken wings, and even some
rib bones can result in some very hard "concrete-like" poops. If you do
feed a bony meal like whole neck bones or a slab of beef ribs,
supplement with some raw "meaty meat" on the side to compensate for the
high bone content.

If you are still worried, learn the doggie heimelich
maneuver and monitor the dog while it eats (which should be done
anyway, regardless of what the dog is fed!). And always remember: more
dogs die from bloat or from choking on kibble and tennis balls than
from choking on raw
bones.

As for bones not being nutritious:

"Bones from prey are required by wolves as
the major source of calcium and phosphorus for the maintenance of their
own skeletons. Bones, in fact, are a surprisingly well-balanced food
for canids" (Mech, L.D. 2003. Wolves: Behavior, Ecology, and
Conservation. pg125).